Middle East Multi Cat

When it comes to overseas markets, Scotland-based Maritime Craft Services has broad horizons. As well as operating in North West Europe – focusing on dredging support, offshore wind and diverse marine construction contracts – the company is also active in the Middle East.

“We have been in the Middle East for more than ten years now,” begins Maritime Craft Services Managing Director Menno Kuyt. “Our first vessel there was a Damen Shoalbuster 2609 – the MCS Nikki – that went out to work on a dredging project.” Within a few years, the company expanded its activities considerably in the region. Crucially, the location served as a stepping stone to contracts even further afield. The MCS Nikki, for example, has worked on projects in India and the Maldives.

Double advantage

Maritime Craft Services continues to grow in the Middle East – its latest fleet acquisition concerns a Damen Multi Cat 3013 called MCS Elly II that is currently providing dredging assistance to one of its customers there. The order was based on market demand, explains Mr Kuyt: “As soon as we heard that our client wanted a particular size of Multi Cat that we didn’t have in our fleet, we knew where to look.” As is so often the case with such contracts, time was of the essence.

Enter Damen Shipyards Sharjah – one of the latest additions to the Damen Shipyards Group. By bringing Damen’s capabilities to customers in the Middle East, the yard can provide the double advantage of reduced delivery times and mobilisation costs. With Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld in the Netherlands providing the engineering and management support, Maritime Craft Services could look forward to a rapid response.

So, just how important was a quick delivery? “Very important,” says Mr Kuyt. “If the vessel hadn’t been built in the Middle East – but by Damen in Holland for example – then I don’t think that we would have gone ahead with it because the time to mobilise would have been too long.” Due to Damen’s strategy of building for stock, the delivery time speaks for itself – MCS took delivery less than a month after signing the contract.

A productive decade

In addition to a quick delivery, there was another aspect to consider. “The key factor for this job was the crane capacity,” states Mr Kuyt. “The cranes are used mainly for pipeline work – connecting the dredger to the pipeline. Our client is using quite a large diameter pipeline so we needed a larger crane capacity in case of emergencies.” For this purpose, the MCS Elly II is equipped with two 33 tonne @ 9.4 metre cranes. “We can get the pipeline on deck quickly and safely, if and when it’s necessary.”

MCS Elly II is not the longest Multi Cat in the Maritime Craft Services fleet (that credit goes to the 42-metre MCS Ailsa). “But in terms of power, she’s the biggest. What’s more, she is our tenth vessel working in the Middle East,” concludes Mr Kuyt. Ten vessels in ten years – now that’s something to be proud of.